The Voice - Match preview #40: Port Vale vs Bradford City 1st April 2025 7:45pm

EFL League Two Fixture #40
Tuesday 1st April 2025 19:45
Port Vale vs Bradford City (2nd)
Vale Park

Record:
Games Won: 46
Games Drawn: 32
Games Lost: 35

Last 5:
29 Dec 2020: Bradford City 0 – 0 Port Vale
24 Apr 2021: Port Vale 2 – 1 Bradford City
13 Nov 2021: Port Vale 1 – 1 Bradford City
19 Mar 2022: Bradford City 1 – 2 Port Vale
26 Dec 2024: Bradford City 2 – 1 Port Vale

Port Vale:
Before Walsall eventually ran away with top spot, it belonged to Port Vale. Rewind to 27 October 2024, and 9 wins from their opening 14 league fixtures saw Port Vale sitting pretty in pole position with a 4 point gap over sides like Walsall, Notts County and Doncaster Rovers. Bradford City, for perspective, were in 7th.

Fast forward to present day, and some prolonged patches of indifferent form have seen Port Vale drop to 3rd, 4 points off current leaders Walsall and 3 behind the second-placed Bantams. 1 win in 10 games between mid-November and New Year’s Day was a particularly poor period for Darren Moore’s side, and defeats to promotion rivals Bradford City and Grimsby Town occurred during this time. Since then, Vale have recovered somewhat with an 11-game unbeaten run followed by a run of 3 wins and 2 defeats from their past 5 outings. While not quite at their best, they have underscored the fact they are effective both at Vale Park and away from home. Sitting 4th in both the ‘Home’ and ‘Away’ league tables, have proven a tough nut to crack for most sides this season despite that mid-season poor patch.

While unlikely to catch Bradford City in the ‘Home’ league table, Vale’s record of 10 wins, 6 draws and 3 defeats have seen them score 25 and concede 15 at Vale Park. A record good enough for the playoffs, no doubt, but Darren Moore and his players will have very definite ambitions of making one of the automatic promotions spots theirs. At the moment, their position in 3rd is precarious. Doncaster Rovers are breathing down their necks in 4th, 1 point behind but with a game in hand. While Port Vale will be happy to have the points on the board, Doncaster Rovers have the potential to go past them.

Doncaster Rovers are disconcertingly close. But that’s not just true to Port Vale, Bradford City also find themselves on stuttering form with just 2 wins from their last 5 outings, as the final 7 games bear down with plenty of matches still to be played between the top sides.

Port Vale entertain Bradford City on Tuesday evening in a must win match for the Valiants. The Saturday after, they could theoretically reclaim top spot after an away tie at Walsall, before a match with AFC Wimbledon raises its head in the penultimate game of the season (barring playoffs).

But Moore and his men won’t be getting ahead of themselves or thinking about any of that. The game this Tuesday night is monumental in scope, with Vale looking to build on a good 1-0 away win at Crewe Alexandra last Saturday. The omens are good for Port Vale. Prior to a recent disappointing 1-0 defeat to Barrow on home soil, The Valiants had conceded just 1 goal in their last 5 outings at Vale Park. Still, losing in that crucial game against Barrow – and having won just 3 of their last 8 games combined – shows that Port Vale haven’t been able to string together wins anywhere near as often as they would like.

3 wins in their last 4, though, and that excellent recent home record do bode well, though. As Bradford City failed to win at lowly Accrington Stanley and continue to struggle on their travels, Port Vale will likely come into this game with a good amount of confidence – but also a reasonable degree of trepidation thanks to that surprise defeat to Barrow.

In terms of goals, Jayden Stockley (9) and Lorent Tolaj (8) lead the charts and both should be available for selection on Tuesday night. That doesn’t mean Moore will call upon both from the start, though – against Barrow, Moore rested Tolaj, dropping him to the bench at least until half time when he was introduced. It didn’t prove a masterstroke, however. This was the only game in the last 4 that Moore has refrained from starting both his leading marksmen, and consequently the only game Vale have lost and the only game they failed to score.

Moore’s selection, then, will come under scrutiny on Tuesday night. Will he get it right this time on a Tuesday evening? Vale fans might hold one slight doubt on that score given Port Vale have a curiously poor record on Tuesday evenings. Just 1 win in a league outing on a Tuesday night (away to Harrogate Town 1-0) has had some Vale fans regarding the day as an unlucky one for Port Vale!

Crewe Alexandra 0 – 1 Port Vale


Port Vale 0 – 1 Barrow


Bradford City:
Fears that Bradford City’s away form could continue to imperil their promotion ambitions proved well-placed on Saturday afternoon after a disappointing 0-0 draw at Accrington Stanley. In truth, Bradford City never looked like winning a tie that appeared to be as frustrating for the players as it did the fans. The Bantams were unable to register even a single shot on target, though at least Accrington scarcely looked like scoring themselves.

Another opportunity to go top has thus been wasted, and Bradford City can now realistically count 3 recent games as genuine opportunities to surpass Walsall in the table. More importantly, though, the teams directly below City in the table continue to get more and more tightly bunched as multiple sides currently occupying the playoff spots climb closer to that all-important automatic promotion segment.

Of the current top 7, Walsall are on the worst form across the last 5 games without even a single win, with Bradford City and Notts County joint second worst. Tuesday evening’s opponents Port Vale join Grimsby Town with the best form across that 5 game period – but there’s very little in it, with just 2 points separating City and Notts County’s haul from that of Port Vale/Grimsby Town. Only Walsall’s current form is a true outlier, being significantly worse than everybody else’s.

It could get even tighter, then, with things close enough that we could even see a clean sweep of the current top 3 in time – but let’s hope not!

Like Walsall, Bradford City are where they are on merit. The two sides are the only sides in the division to have reached 20 wins, and while a full 15 of those have come at Valley Parade for Bradford City, and while they are the worst performing ‘Away’ side among the top 7, they still have some crucial games left to play on home soil. That will be a modicum of comfort amid what looks a promotion race that is just too close to call.

Defeat on Tuesday night for an increasingly inconsistent Bradford City side feels like it would come at just the wrong time. A draw would be more palatable, especially with Doncaster Rovers entertaining Walsall in another all-top 4 six pointer, but is also going to be easier said than done.

Hopes that Alex Pattison and Bobby Pointon might both be fit to start were raised when the pair come on for more than half an hour at Accrington Stanley, and that could prove the difference between dour away efforts like the 1-0 defeat at Gillingham recently and back-to-back away wins at Bromley and Salford City in late February/early March. The fact remains, however, that Bromley and Salford City aren’t in the same part of the table as Port Vale for a reason. They aren’t as good.

Accrington Stanley 0 – 0 Bradford City


Bradford City 4 – 1 Colchester United


Prediction:
For whatever reason, Bradford City just aren’t the same force away from home. While crushing wins over promotion rivals Walsall (3-0) and the now slightly adrift Colchester United (4-1) showed just how good Graham Alexander’s side can be, as they also evidenced as they comfortably dispatched Cheltenham Town (3-0). You won’t find any of those kinds of performances away from home, this season, however, and that’s been a real worry all season. Bradford City failed to collect all 6 points against any of those sides this season, losing at Walsall, and drawing at both Cheltenham Town and Colchester United in the reverse fixtures.

The aforementioned statistic of just 5 wins in all of their 19 away league fixtures certainly doesn’t scream ‘automatic promotion’, but such has their form been at home this season one can only argue they are up there on merit at the current time. At the current time is probably not the most comforting qualifier right now, with City set to tackle Port Vale at Vale Park in the most crucial game of the season yet.

Port Vale are the 4th best ‘Home’ side in the division. They have rarely conceded on home soil in recent outings, and are on better overall form than the Bantams across each of their last 5 outings. The omens just aren’t good for City… but they also weren’t good for Barrow, and they managed to sneak away from Vale Park with the full complement of 3 points.

Now, Graham Alexander’s men simply must try to do the same. But can they? Will they?

Unfortunately the pick will be an uncomfortable 1-0 defeat for the Bantams, the same fate that befell Notts County at Vale Park recently. If results elsewhere also go against City, then the congestion in the table will be unbearable come Saturday’s home tie against Crewe Alexandra – but fear not, for that looks a more winnable game for the Bantams as they enter the final 6 games of the season.

Final Score:
Port Vale 1 – 0 Bradford City